Tumwater Planning Commission recommended that city council approve four minor housekeeping amendments to its development code on Tuesday, December 12.
The proposed changes deal with the undergrounding of utilities, allowed uses for a specific subdistrict, open space requirements for manufactured home parks, and industrial buildings over 65 feet tall.Land Use and Housing Planner Erika Smith-Erickson briefed the commission about the proposed changes before opening a public hearing about the amendments and taking the matter to a vote on whether to move forward with the recommendations.
The first amendment expands Tumwater Municipal Code (TMC) 17.12.200, which addresses general design standards for underground utilities. The section currently states that “electrical power, telephone, cable television, fiber optics, and other transmission lines shall be installed underground.”
The proposed changes clarify that “all new and relocated electrical and communication facilities” must be installed underground.
Exact conditions are also provided for when existing utilities must be moved underground, such as when ten or more new dwelling units would be created, as well as any time when existing overhead utility will be reconstructed, replaced, or upgraded.
If nearby properties require frontage improvements, utilities must be placed underground if 100 feet or more of street frontage needs to be improved. The condition is different for single-family low- and medium-density residential and residential/sensitive resource zone districts, where utilities must be moved underground if 200 feet or more of street frontage needs to be improved.
The second amendment updates TMC 18.23.050, which deals with development and design standards for buildings considered part of the main street in the mixed-used subdistrict of town center.
New Market Street and a segment of 73rd Avenue intersecting with the former street are designated as main street in Tumwater’s town center.
The update creates additional permitted uses for commercial and residential developments along the main street. In addition to currently allowed uses – namely retail sales, restaurants, personal services, museums, and art galleries – new uses would include professional services, medical clinics, child day care centers, and child mini-day care centers.
The third amendment updates the code so that manufactured home parks that are not subject to the city’s land division process still require open space.
A 2021 ordinance updated the code to require open space areas for mobile home parks, but according to a staff report, if a mobile home park development was not required to undergo the land division process, the development would not be subject to open space requirements.
The proposed adjustment amends TMC 18.42.130 to require such developments to reserve 15% of their gross site area as open space.
The last amendment establishes a conditional use permit process for industrial-use buildings that are over 65 feet high and located within light and heavy industrial zoning districts.
The city does not have a process for developments that exceed such height, according to Smith-Erickson.
The proposed changes are to TMC 18.24.040 and 18.25.040, which list conditional uses for light industrial and heavy industrial districts, respectively. Conditional use permits are approved by a hearing examiner after a public hearing.
A new subsection would also be added to TMC 18.56.110 to include nine conditions in which industrial buildings over 65 feet would be allowed.
With the commission’s recommendation, the amendments will now be forwarded to the General Government Committee on January 10 and then city council on January 23 before they are considered for adoption on February 6.
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Southsoundguy
End democratic control of land.
Monday, December 18, 2023 Report this